Speaker Jo Quinton-Tulloch, Director National Science Media Museum

Despite fighting technology problems when Mike's computer and laptop refused to communicate with one another Jo gave an interesting talk about the National Science & Media Museum. She explained that the museum in Bradford was a part of the Science Museum in London which also incorporates the National Railway Museum in York and the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester.

Originally opened as the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in 1983 the museum changed it's name to the National Media Museum in 2006 and then to its current name in 2017. The main aim of the museum is to protect and preserve the national collections whilst at the same time making them accessible both physically and intellectually.

The changes in 2017 were made because attendance at the museum was falling and it was felt that something needed to be done to re-invigorate the museum. As part of this the team started the Bradford Science Festival with the aim of trying to help interest children in Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) subjects to start to reduce the shortfall of 20,000 scientists and engineers in the UK. They also aimed to nurture talent by starting the Yorkshire Games Festival for computer gaming which is now a massive worldwide industry. In addition the museum opened the Wonderlab to give visitors a hands on exploration of light, sound and perception.

One event that helped to swell visitor numbers last year was the visit of the Soyuz space capsule that Tim Peake rode in to the International space station.

Jo said that the challenge now for the team was to find other things that would continue to attract visitors to the museum. She felt that this could only be done by making it relevant to the world today as we continue to consume so much technology in the form of sound and images.

For more information on the museum please visit their web site: -  www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk